My biggest issue as a Blues fan (17 replies)
I've followed the Blues all my life (born early 90s) and I've always been pissed off with our inability to hold onto a player and create a real 'fan favourite'
I mean, look at our top 10 appearance holders:
Gil Merrick 1946–1959 485 (0) 56 (0) 0 (0) 10 (0) 551 (0)
2 Frank Womack 1908–1928 491 (0) 24 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) 515 (0)
3 Joe Bradford 1920–1935 414 (0) 31 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) 445 (0)
4 Ken Green 1947–1958 401 (0) 36 (0) 0 (0) 4 (0) 440 (0)
5 Johnny Crosbie 1920–1932 409 (0) 23 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) 432 (0)
6 Trevor Smith 1953–1964 365 (0) 35 (0) 12 (0) 18 (0) 430 (0)
7 Malcolm Beard 1960–1970 349 (1) 24 (1) 25 (0) 4 (0) 402 (2)
8 Dan Tremelling 1919–1931 382 (0) 13 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) 395 (0)
9 Malcolm Page 1965–1980 328 (8) 29 (0) 14 (0) 12 (0) 383 (8)
10 Harry Hibbs 1926–1938 358 (0) 30 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) 388 (0)
No new entries since 1980 and a few who finished their playing career before WW2. Really, that's a horrible statistic. 388 appearances really isn't a high bar either - what's that, 11/12 seasons of football? Having a player from 20 to 31.
The high turnover of players, especially, since our relegation in 2011, has made it really difficult to become attached to players and has really spoiled my enjoyments of following the Blues this decade. How amazing would it be to see Jude on that list? We know it's not going to happen.
You have to tell yourself: This is Blues, it's what we are.